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Open Dialog Article

The Difference Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Open dialog article,
By Brett Arthur, Senior Consultant, Dialog IT.

It is important for an organisation to agree on what the meanings of

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC). Both form an
integral part of the organisation's quality management plan, and the
effectiveness of delivery teams relies on the differences being well
understood by all stakeholders, including management.

Effective quality systems can contribute enormously to the success

of projects, but the counterpoint is that, when poorly understood, the
quality systems are likely to be weak and ineffective in ensuring that

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the delivered system is delivered on time, built by the team within

their allocated budget, and satisfies the customer’s requirements.

This article considers the difference between Quality Assurance and

Quality Control. The concepts are investigated by looking at guidance from key industry players.

Introduction
How many times has it struck you that many practitioners involved in the ICT field lack an understanding
of the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control? Often you will hear someone talk about
‘QA’, when what they actually mean is ‘QC’.

This ambiguity consistently throws up problems and is a sure way of undermining a project. Projects are
negatively affected as it tends to lead to strained conversations and makes reaching consensus difficult.

Although QA and QC are closely related concepts, and are both aspects of quality management, they are
fundamentally different in their focus:

QC is used to verify the quality of the output;

QA is the process of managing for quality.

Achieving success in a project requires both QA and QC. If we only apply QA, then we have a set of
processes that can be applied to ensure great quality in our delivered solution, but the delivered solution
itself is never actually quality-checked.
Likewise, if we only focus on QC then we are simply conducting tests without any clear vision for making
our tests repeatable, for understanding and eliminating problems in testing, and for generally driving
improvement into the means we use to deliver our ICT solutions.

In either case, the delivered solution is unlikely to meet the customer expectation or satisfy the business
needs that gave rise to the project in the first place.

Understanding the Difference Between QA and QC

So, what exactly is the difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)?

A good point of reference for understanding the difference is the ISO 9000 family of standards. These
standards relate to quality management systems and are designed to help organisations meet the needs of
customers and other stakeholders.

In terms of this standard, a quality management system is comprised of quality planning and quality
improvement activities, the establishment of a set of quality policies and objectives that will act as
guidelines within an organisation, and QA and QC.

In the ISO 9000 standard, clause 3.2.10 defines Quality Control as:
“A part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements”

Clause 3.2.11 defines Quality Assurance as:

“A part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be
fulfilled”

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These definitions lay a good foundation, but they are too broad and vague to be useful. NASA, one of the
most rigorous software engineering firms in the world, provides the following definitions:

Software Quality Control:

"The function of software quality that checks that the project follows its standards, processes, and
procedures, and that the project produces the required internal and external (deliverable) products"

Software Quality Assurance:

"The function of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are
appropriate for the project and are correctly implemented"

Simply put, Quality Assurance focuses on the process of quality, while Quality Control focuses on the
quality of output.

Quality Assurance: a Strategy of Prevention

QA is focused on planning, documenting and agreeing on a set of guidelines that are necessary to assure
quality. QA planning is undertaken at the beginning of a project, and draws on both software
specifications and industry or company standards. The typical outcomes of the QA planning activities are
quality plans, inspection and test plans, the selection of defect tracking tools and the training of people in
the selected methods and processes.

The purpose of QA is to prevent defects from entering into the solution in the first place. In other
words, QA is a pro-active management practice that is used to assure a stated level of quality for an IT
initiative.

Undertaking QA at the beginning of a project is a key tool to mitigate the risks that have been identified
during the specification phases. Communication plays a pivotal role in managing project risk, and is
crucial for realising effective QA. Part of any risk mitigation strategy is the clear communication of both
the risks, and their associated remedies to the team or teams involved in the project.

Quality Control: a Strategy of Detection

Quality Control, on the other hand, includes all activities that are designed to determine the level of
quality of the delivered ICT solutions. QC is a reactive means by which quality is gauged and
monitored, and QC includes all operational techniques and activities used to fulfil requirements for
quality. These techniques and activities are agreed with customers and/or stakeholders before project work
is commenced.

QC involves verification of output conformance to desired quality levels. This means that the ICT solution
is checked against customer requirements, with various checks being conducted at planned points in the
development lifecycle. Teams will use, amongst other techniques, structured walkthroughs, testing and
code inspections to ensure that the solution meets the agreed set of requirements.

Benefits of Quality Management

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The benefits of a structured approach to quality management cannot be ignored.

Quality Control is used, in conjunction with the quality improvement activity, to isolate and provide
feedback on the causes of quality problems. By using this approach consistently, across projects, the
feedback mechanism works towards identifying root-cause problems, and then developing strategies to
eliminating these problems. Using this holistic approach ensures that teams achieve ever higher levels of
quality.

As a consequence of formulating and executing a quality management plan the company can expect:

Greater levels of customer satisfaction, which will very likely result in both repeat business, as well
as referral business
A motivated team that not only understand the policy objectives of the quality management plan,
but who also actively participate in executing the plan
Elimination of waste by eliminating rework arising from either the need to address bugs, or to
address gaps in the solution’s ability to meet customer requirements
Higher levels of confidence in planning, since the tasks arising from unplanned rework will fall
away
Financial rewards for the company, which are a consequence of new projects from existing and
referral clients, as well as through the reduction of monies spent on rework tasks.

As the company’s quality management plan matures, the confidence of all stakeholders will grow. The
company will be seen to be more effective and efficient in delivering an agreed ICT solution to clients.

Dialog Information Technology

Dialog is a Premier Google for Work Partner and Microsoft Gold Partner in Australia and New Zealand,
with over 1,200 full-time consultants and offices in all capital cities.

Dialog Information Technology provides expertise in Quality Control and Quality Assurance and services
range from strategic IT consulting through full lifecycle application development and managed
application services to long-term operational support.

Reference this article: Brett Arthur, The Difference Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control
(2012-04-17) Open Dialog - Dialog Information Technology <http://www.dialog.com.au/open-dialog/the-
difference-between-quality-assurance-and-quality-control/>

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© Dialog Pty Ltd ABN 16 010 089 175 - Ph: 1800 DIALOG . dialogit@dialog.com.au

This work is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Aust Commonwealth), no part
of this publication may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written
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on this document. Trademarks mentioned are the property of the owner.

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